"The loss of Tom Petty has just about broken my heart," she said, nothing that Petty's daughter, Adriana, was in attendance. "He was not only a good man to go own the river with, as Johnny Cash said, he was a great father and he was a great friend, and he was one of my best friends. My heart will never get over this.

"He did the MusiCares thing last year -- you probably know that," she continued, "and he spent a lot of time after that night talking to me about how important that was to him. And maybe he was talking about it because Tom was ill. He was not well and he fought his way through that tour. He should have canceled, and he should have just gone home and ... gone to the hospital. But not Tom. He was going to go down that river. God bless him. He finished his tour at the Hollywood Bowl -- three shows -- and one week later, he died. But he got down the river. So Tom, I know you're standing next to me because you always have been for so many years, and he loved MusiCares."

Nicks and Petty's friendship began in 1978 and resulted in their duet on Bella Donna's "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," which hit No. 3 in 1981. She also sang on "Insider," which appeared on his Hard Promises. She's often said that she had approached Petty about becoming a member of the Heartbreakers, only to be told that girls weren't allowed in his band.

"I’ve known her since 1978 and she’s insisted on being in my life," Petty said of Nicks in 2014. "Some of my best musical memories of her are sitting on the couch and just playing the guitar while she sings,"